PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Damien Gouse, 35, described at sentencing by the government as a career criminal with nearly 50 arrests who is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence in Massachusetts on felony assault charges, was sentenced by U.S District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr, on Tuesday to 10 years in federal for being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Providence Police Chief Colonel Hugh T. Clements, Jr.

A federal court jury convicted Gouse in December 2013 on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. At trial, the government presented evidence that on November 29, 2007, at approximately 9:50 p.m., two Providence Police officers in a marked police cruiser conducted a routine traffic stop after observing a vehicle make two turns without using a turn signal. As the officers approached the vehicle they observed Gouse, who was alone in the vehicle, reach across the middle console of the vehicle toward the passenger side floor attempting to conceal an item. One of the officers illuminated the passenger area floor with a flashlight where he observed and then seized a .22 caliber handgun.

At sentencing, a prosecutor told the court that by his count Gouse had been arrested previously 47 times on a total of 99 charges.